Written Answers Monday 24 May 2010

Scottish Executive

Alzheimer’s Disease

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new Girvan Community Hospital incorporates all of the research that is available to make it accessible for people with cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Shona Robison: NHS Ayrshire and Arran is responsible for ensuring that Girvan Community Hospital is designed in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

  The hospital was designed and planned to fully comply with the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations, including relevant compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. Its design specification included reference to five sets of relevant guidance on disability awareness and access issues, all of which were cross-referenced in the Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) Dementia Design Checklist.

  The checklist, produced in association with The Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) and for use across all healthcare premises, was published in 2007 – after the design process for Girvan Community Hospital was completed. HFS also produced a Dementia Audit Tool, in association with DSDC, in 2008.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all new primary care premises have incorporated all of the research that is available to ensure that such facilities are user-friendly and maximise accessibility for people with cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Shona Robison: NHS boards are responsible for designing all primary care premises in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act, as part of their wider accountability under the act for eliminating discrimination and promoting equality of access for disabled people including those with cognitive impairment. NHS Health Scotland provides guidance and training to boards on these issues, including Achieving Fair Access to cover access issues and staff attitudes to people with disabilities.

  Health Facilities Scotland, in association with The Dementia Services Development Centre, published guidance on dementia-friendly design in 2007 and 2008 for use across all healthcare premises including those operated by independent contractors.

  A range of professionals in each board are trained in auditing dementia-friendly design, and all boards have a team of accredited auditors to advise on the suitability of existing and new NHS facilities for people with dementia.

Central Heating

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned an independent evaluation of the operation of the energy assistance package (EAP).

Alex Neil: The independent Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum monitors the operation of the energy assistance package. It is due to publish its annual report in the summer which will include a review of the first year of the energy assistance package.

  There is a monitoring and Inspection contract in place, operated by Bierce, which continually monitors the delivery of Stage 4 of the EAP and is used in the Scottish Gas programme of continual improvement.

Central Heating

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has learned lessons from the first year of operation of the energy assistance package.

Alex Neil: The Fuel Poverty Forum has been monitoring the first year of the energy assistance package and has recommended changes in the course of the year, particularly around eligibility. The new managing agent contract also provided the opportunity to incorporate the lessons learned since the letting of the last contract. Consequently, the new managing agent contract sets a higher proportion of performance related payments allied to demanding performance indicators, than in the past.

Crime

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Fife were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of occupied bed days in NHS Fife where a diagnosis of "assault by sharp object" is recorded is presented in the following table.

  Number of acute occupied bed days1,2 in NHS Fife connected with an assault by sharp object3, patient discharged during year ending 31 March 2005-09:

  

Financial Years
Total Number of Bed Days4


2004-05
93


2005-06
13


2006-07
90


2007-08
58


2008-09
55



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. Hospital admission data are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. Bed Days are calculated using the length of stay variable.

  3. Assault by sharp object connected incidents are defined as ICD-10 code X99 in any secondary diagnosis positions.

  4. The number of bed days can be influenced by the severity of the injury received and hence total bed day figures do not necessarily reflect the underlying number of admissions.

  For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Fife was provided in the answer to question S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx

  Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD’s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Crime

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Highland were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of occupied bed days in NHS Highland where a diagnosis of "assault by sharp object" is recorded is presented in the following table.

  Number of acute occupied bed days1,2 in NHS Highland connected with an assault by sharp object3, patient discharged during year ending 31 March 2005-09:

  

Financial Years
Total Number of Bed Days4


2004-05
153


2005-06
21


2006-07
16


2007-08
36


2008-09
34



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. Hospital admission data are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. Bed Days are calculated using the length of stay variable.

  3. Assault by sharp object connected incidents are defined as ICD-10 code X99 in any secondary diagnosis positions.

  4. The number of bed days can be influenced by the severity of the injury received and hence total bed day figures do not necessarily reflect the underlying number of admissions.

  For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Highland was provided in the answer to question S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD’s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Crime

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Lanarkshire were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of occupied bed days in NHS Lanarkshire where a diagnosis of "assault by sharp object" is recorded is presented in the following table.

  Number of acute occupied bed days1,2 in NHS Lanarkshire connected with an assault by sharp object3, patient discharged during year ending 31 March 2005-09:

  

Financial Years
Total Number of Bed Days4


2004-05
485


2005-06
402


2006-07
386


2007-08
323


2008-09
413



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. Hospital admission data are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. Bed days are calculated using the length of stay variable.

  3. Assault by sharp object connected incidents are defined as ICD-10 code X99 in any secondary diagnosis positions.

  4. The number of bed days can be influenced by the severity of the injury received and hence total bed day figures do not necessarily reflect the underlying number of admissions.

  For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Lanarkshire was provided in the answer to question S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD’s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

Crime

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS Dumfries and Galloway were directly connected to a diagnosis of assault by sharp object in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of occupied bed days in NHS Dumfries and Galloway where a diagnosis of "assault by sharp object" is recorded is presented in the following table.

  Number of acute occupied bed days1,2 in NHS Dumfries and Galloway connected with an assault by sharp object3, patient discharged during year ending 31 March 2005-2009:

  

Financial Years
Total Number of Bed Days4


2004-05
18


2005-06
29


2006-07
33


2007-08
6


2008-09
26



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. Hospital admission data are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. Bed days are calculated using the length of stay variable.

  3. Assault by sharp object connected incidents are defined as ICD-10 code X99 in any secondary diagnosis positions.

  4. The number of bed days can be influenced by the severity of the injury received and hence total bed day figures do not necessarily reflect the underlying number of admissions.

  For information; the numbers of admissions connected to assault by a sharp object in NHS Dumfries and Galloway was provided in the answer to question S3W-32124 on 15 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  Additional data and commentary on assault by a sharp object is published as part of ISD’s Unintentional Injuries publication http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5327.html.

European Funding

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with stakeholders regarding European Structural Funds after 2013.

Jim Mather: Between February and April of this year Scottish Government officials within the European Structural Funds Division undertook an informal consultation on post-2013 Cohesion Policy, including the future use of Structural Funds in Scotland. As part of the process the following meetings with stakeholders were held:

  25 February 2010: Meeting with MEPs, European Parliament, Brussels

  25 February 2010: Meeting with Scotland Europa, COSLA and Highlands and Islands European Partnership (HIEP), Scotland House, Brussels

  1 March 2010: Ministerial meeting with external stakeholders, Atlantic Quay, Glasgow

  15 March 2010: Meeting with West of Scotland Colleges Partnership (WOSCOP) Langside College, Glasgow

  26 March and 13 April 2010: Meetings with European Policy Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, Atlantic Quay, Glasgow.

  Summaries of these meetings have been published on the European Structural Funds section of the Scottish Government website and can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/17404/Post2013CohesionPolicy.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it records the incidence of norovirus in care homes.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the incidence of norovirus in care homes is increasing.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not record the incidence of Norovirus in care homes. However, care home service providers must notify any Norovirus outbreak to the relevant health board. Depending on the circumstances, the board may in turn notify Health Protection Scotland. How the data is collected and analysed are matters for HPS. More information can be obtained from their website, www.hps.scot.nhs.uk , or by contacting directly HPS at:

  Health Protection Scotland

  Clifton House

  Clifton Place

  Glasgow, G3 7LN

  T: 0141 300 1100

  F: 0141 300 1170

  E: NSS.HPSenquiries@nhs.net.

  The Care Commission is responsible for ensuring that care homes meet the legislative requirement to have appropriate procedures for the control of infections. Care home service providers are required to notify the Care Commission of any outbreak of infectious diseases as defined by the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. Norovirus is not a notifiable infectious disease under the 2001 act, but the Commission encourages care homes to let them know of any outbreaks. The recording of outbreaks is an operational matter for the commission. Further details can be obtained from the commission’s chief executive:

  Mrs Jacquie Roberts

  Chief Executive

  Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care

  Compass House

  11 Riverside Drive

  DUNDEE, DD1 4NY

  T: 0845 603 0890

  E: Jacquie.roberts@carecommission.com.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities and registered social landlords it is continuing to assist with the installation of central heating in their housing stock.

Alex Neil: Scottish Government is providing residual business plan funding to Glasgow Housing Association, Argyll and Bute Housing Association and River Clyde Homes as it is bound. It is possible that some of that funding could be used for the installation of central heating.

Housing

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £82 million extra that it has been allocated by the UK Government this year will be spent on building new affordable housing or supporting new housing programmes.

Alex Neil: The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced, as part of the Spring Budget revision, that £31 million would be awarded from the consequential monies to meet housing need and accelerate and sustain investment in affordable housing across the country.

Housing

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of its housing budget in 2010-11 will be apportioned to the Highlands and Islands region.

Alex Neil: The Affordable Housing Investment Programme for 2010-11 was announced by the Minister for Housing and Communities on 25 March 2010. The information is available on the Scottish Government’s website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip.

NHS Hospitals

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that referrals made to the NHS’s secondary or tertiary services consider ethnicity from the outset, with patient consent, instead of seeking the information retrospectively.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33583 on 20 May 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

  Ethnicity data is now collected for new patient registrations in primary care by around half of GP practices across Scotland, i.e. those who opted to take up the Directed Enhanced Services (DES) for recording ethnic group and interpreting needs of all their local populations.

NHS Hospitals

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations took place with the management of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow regarding the decision to close ward 6B, which accommodated young people with cystic fibrosis.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have confirmed that although the use of accommodation within the same hospital building has changed, the service and the staff providing it remain the same.

  The NHS board have given assurances that they engaged with the young patients and their families to ensure that they understood the reasons behind the changes and what it meant for patients.

NHS Hospitals

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been in communication with the management of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh regarding their directive for changes to the role of cystic fibrosis specialist nurses whereby they must spend a minimum of 20% of their time working on the ward.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will enter discussions with the management of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh if the recent changes to specialist cystic fibrosis nurses’ duties result in home visits being curtailed and the availability of such nurses to deal with acute problems being reduced.

Nicola Sturgeon: All children with cystic fibrosis must receive care from a multi-disciplinary team of specialist doctors, nurses and AHPs, in line with agreed standards of care, wherever they live. The employment of clinical staff such as specialist nurses is a matter for NHS boards. We do, however, ask NHS boards to consider the role of specialist nurses as part of their plans to make sure that services meet the needs of people living with cystic fibrosis and all long-term conditions.

  NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have confirmed that its cystic fibrosis nurse specialists have recently started to undertake one shift a month working within the ward setting and this allows the opportunity to fulfil many aspects of their job description.

  Both NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have assured me that Cystic Fibrosis specialist nurses working on the ward will not curtail their ability to provide home visits, if this is required by families.

NHS Services

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many taxis requested by NHS patients to Network Private Hire Ltd, Glasgow, have failed to arrive since the company gained the award of the contract to provide taxi services in the Greater Glasgow area of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of taxis requested by NHS patients to Network Private Hire Ltd, Glasgow, has failed to arrive since the company gained the award of the contract to provide taxi services in the Greater Glasgow area of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and how many times this was due to the taxi driver not having enhanced disclosure certification.

Nicola Sturgeon: To date, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has received no complaints regarding the non arrival of taxis booked through the board’s contract with Network Private Hire. Furthermore, no such incidents have been recorded on Network Private Hire’s database.

NHS Staff

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the process that began in 2005 of assimilation of school nurses through the Agenda for Change programme in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area has not been concluded.

Nicola Sturgeon: The assimilation process of Agenda for Change is complete and all NHSScotland staff are being paid in accordance with the new system. Staff who were dissatisfied with their initial pay banding, however, had the right to request a review. School Nurses in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board area have accessed the review system.

  I understand that all the initial review panels in Glasgow have now taken place, and that, in some cases involving school nurses, review panels have not been able to reach agreement. The board has therefore decided to investigate this matter further. The board is very much aware of how important this is to staff and it is working hard to resolve the outstanding issues as soon as possible. Although I recognise that this further delay will be unwelcome for school nurses considering the time they have already waited, it is right that the board takes the time required to examine these issues properly.

  We have consistently put emphasis on taking each aspect of implementation of Agenda for Change forward in full partnership between employers and staff side because we believe that this is the best way of ensuring that outcomes are robust.

NHS Staff

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what banding school nurses have been given in each NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: Job title will not indicate a specific banding under the Agenda for Change system since job titles were often used quite generically previously. Rather it is the job description which is matched by a specially trained panel against a range of pre-existing job profiles. The job profile match will then indicate a pay banding. There are school nurse job profiles available at Band 5, Band 6 and Band 7 levels and the spread of these bandings in a given area will reflect how the board has chosen to organise this particular service.

NHS Staff

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it will cost to cover the claims made by school nurses for backdated pay as a result of the time taken to assimilate their role in the Agenda for Change programme.

Nicola Sturgeon: As with most other staff costs, the finance to cover the salaries of staff on the Agenda for Change system comes from NHS boards’ general allocations. All staff are already being paid under the Agenda for Change system and all back pay in respect of initial banding has already been passed to the staff concerned. Staff who were dissatisfied with their initial pay banding had the right to request a review. Where a review results in an increase in banding, this may result in that staff member receiving a further payment of back pay. However, as with a range of other minor fluctuations in costs, this is a matter which boards would manage locally as part of their ongoing financial management of services and not something on which the Scottish Government would collect data.